‘Good can come from bad’ – Why Clark deserves praise for ‘awesome’ US Open win

Code of contact is a hot topic right now in the men’s game and Wyndham Clark is a good example of when boundaries are put in place, good can come from it.

I’d put Joaquin Niemann in there as well, having been penalised two shots earlier in the week for a code of conduct misbehaviour, as he went on to play some phenomenal golf and offer some great interviews afterwards.

Niemann learned from his behaviour and I think he has become a better person for it. His golf has also become better for it, which is where you can put Clark – I think good can sometimes come from bad.

​​​​​​​Clark has reacted to what happened last year, where he was criticised for smashing up the locker after missing the cut at Oakmont, and will have gone through it a lot in his head. Clark has come out the other side and is not just a better guy and more contrite, but a better golfer.

He was prepared for the difficult reaction from the crowd, a bit like Team Europe at the Ryder Cup last year in Bethpage. We had anticipated it, we were ready for it, and I think he was the same in that final round.

Clark’s work with his psychologist, Julie Elion, certainly included preparing for the crowd working against you, because he took it in his stride and – in my opinion – was obviously something that he thought about.

That was a pretty awesome performance to close out victory and a tough thing what he did. He was playing on a tough golf course, in tough conditions, with nowhere to go but win with such a big lead.

He was making mistakes playing with Scottie Scheffler, yet still came back time after time to keep his nose in front and get the job done. I have nothing but praise for Clark after that terrific performance.

Slow start costs Scheffler as Burns goes close

The main thing Scheffler is not doing is getting himself in a commanding position – he is always chasing and that’s a tough place to be, whereas last year he got control of the tournaments early and moved on from there.

He’s getting off to slow starts this year and he’s getting behind the eight-ball, as it allows people to get ahead of him. Scheffler is far better when he’s playing within himself and that’s when he actually produces his best golf.

When he’s forcing, like he had to trying to chase down Clark, that’s sometimes when he crashes and burns and misses short putts. Scheffler knows at that point he can’t afford a miss because of the leader being ahead of him.

We saw Scheffler strengthen his putting somewhat last year but it has never become outstanding. He’s missing a few putts at the moment and it has always been, arguably, the weakest part of a game that has otherwise been so consistent in recent years.

Sam Burns is not known as a serial closer and it’s a long time since he has won a tournament before, averaging almost 75 on the last day for the previous five times he had been within three of the lead going into the final round.

This time around he shot a closing 67 as he stood up to the battle, came out of the pack from seven behind to put pressure on Clark. I’m full of admiration for Burns for what he did, and this could be a big step forward for him.

Burns got a hot start, kept it going and he kept playing shots down the stretch that were better than anybody else. He bounced back whenever he did make a mistake and hit a hell of a putt on the 18th, but sometimes the golfing Gods just say no.

This runner-up finish will give him belief in winning, not just a major but also in another tournament, so I’m expecting him to take that performance and move forward into PGA Tour contention again soon.

‘Top marks’ for Shinnecock but could change improve it?

Shinnecock Hills is a very difficult site for the USGA, but I’d give them top marks on how they navigated the weather conditions – and a very difficult golf course – to host a US Open.

It’s a complex site and not in the perfect area for a major. It’s right at the end of Long Island, it’s a long away from a major city and transportation is certainly an issue, along with the complexity of the design of the golf course.

The greens have so much slope on them that they are not really fit for the speeds that players have nowadays, but they didn’t lose the integrity of the golf course and offered a real test where just three players finished under-par.

I would consider, if I was part of the membership, to slightly moderate the greens. Not drastically, but just slightly, to give the USGA a little bit more leeway with course set-up, if we are going to keep coming back and playing US Opens here.

I know that’s unlikely to happen, but there are definitely some things that can be done to give them a little bit more leeway going forward.

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